Edward Ennis, 82, Ex-Prosecutor And Head of Civil Liberties Union

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Edward J. Ennis, a former Federal prosecutor who became chairman of the American Civil Liberties Union, died of complications of diabetes on Sunday at Lenox Hill Hospital. He was 82 years old and had homes in Manhattan; Lido Beach, L.I., and Palm Beach, Fla.

Mr. Ennis worked for the Justice Department for 14 years before joining the American Civil Liberties Union in 1946. He was associated with the A.C.L.U. for 43 years.

Mr. Ennis became an assistant United States attorney shortly after graduating from the Columbia University Law School in 1932. He defended the constitutionality of the New Deal legislation that created the National Recovery Act and the Agricultural Recovery Act.

His positions included general counsel of the Immigration and Naturalization Service. From December 1941 to March 1946, he was director of the alien enemy control unit. During much of that time, he was also administrator of foreign travel control.

Although he was in charge of internment, parole, repatriation and other internal security practices involving enemy aliens, he strongly opposed the internment of thousands of West Coast Japanese-Americans in the early war years. About 70,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry were forced from their homes and businesses and placed in internment camps.

After the war, Mr. Ennis testified on behalf of some of the detainees, saying in one case that ''willful historical inaccuracies'' had been included in military reports supporting the forced evacuations.

In 1946, Mr. Ennis joined the board of the A.C.L.U. He was general counsel from 1955 to 1969 and president from 1967 to 1977. He was on the executive committee until 1985, and was also in private practice.

''He was in the vanguard of many constitutional battles waged by the A.C.L.U.,'' the current president of the group, Norman Dorsen, said. ''Not well known to the public, he nevertheless was a singularly important force for the values of the Constitution since the 1940's. He was one of the all-time heroes of American civil liberties.''

While Mr. Ennis was head of the A.C.L.U. in 1973, it issued a call for the impeachment of President Richard M. Nixon and later assailed the decision by President Gerald R. Ford to grant Mr. Nixon a pardon. Mr. Ennis also pressed for the elimination of property-tax exemptions for religious organizations, arguing that such tax treatment was unconstitutional.

Surviving is his wife, Marie Joyce.

Correction: January 10, 1990

Wednesday, Late Edition - Final

An obituary yesterday about Edward J. Ennis, a former president of the American Civil Liberties Union, misstated the period of his service. It was 1969 to 1976.

A version of this obituary appears in print on January 9, 1990, on Page D00022 of the National edition with the headline: Edward Ennis, 82, Ex-Prosecutor And Head of Civil Liberties Union. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe